Josh Brooks: More questions than answers for packaging as Con-Lib coalition government takes office

So we have a coalition and, as many in the sector hoped, David Cameron is prime minister. But the new government raises more questions than it provides answers for the packaging industry.

We know who’s in the ministerial team at Defra that will carry forward packaging policy. Yet Caroline Spelman, Lord Henley et al’s knowledge of packaging and recycling are something of an unknown, and all historically have been more interested in farming than manufacturing. Whether this bodes well for our sector remains to be seen.

As we report in this issue, the outcome of the consultation on the Packaging Strategy and PRNs will be another area where the industry is hoping the government will get on its side, especially with recycling targets for 2020 seen as unrealistic by many.

Meanwhile questions remain over energy policy; Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat energy minister, has previously been a staunch opponent of a nuclear rebuild programme.

Perhaps the biggest question of all is the future of Wrap in the face of chancellor George Osborne’s planned £6bn in cuts.

Quangos are in the firing line and Defra, which funds Wrap, is slated to cut its budget by £162m, or 5.5%. We don’t yet know how much of that will come from Wrap’s budget, reported to be more than £90m for the year 2010/11.

Wrap, for its part, has said it is confident it will “continue to make a big contribution” under the new Con-Lib administration; although its statement to Packaging News made it clear it was expecting cuts, saying “no-one can expect to be immune” when the axe swings.

Whatever happens, the government must listen to science and the industry, and not politically motivated spin, if it is to reach the right answers on these key issues.

On a separate note, features editor Jill Park is leaving Packaging News to move overseas after three and a half years with us. I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing her well for her new adventure.

Josh Brooks is editor of Packaging News

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